By Lauren Oliver “I love you. Remember. They cannot take it.”
Imagine yourself one hundred years in the future. Love is no longer important, more than that, it doesn’t exist. People used to suffer, search, and even die for love. Now they have a cure. Delirium looks at the possible future, about 100 years from now in Portland, Maine. All civilization is within those cities, and beyond the electrified fence that surrounds the city you are called an ‘Invalid’. Invalid means don’t exist in society, and are not registered as a person. The suburbs are clean, neat, and hardly anyone seems to step out of line. With the high chances of being caught and the penalties of you if do, hardly anyone would risk it. These are the suburbs in Portland that people inhabit. The ones that aren't are left to crumble, and there is a fear of going to them. Outside of Portland nothing exists. At least, that’s what the Government has told everyone. No one asks questions, as no one really wants to know the answers. Unlike many science fiction novels, technology is not a main part of this book, and rather the amount people rely on it is not nearly as much as in the present day.
The main character in this novel is a 17 year old girl named Lena Holloway. She lives in a time where love is feared, and what society believes is a disease “amor delira nervosa”. Lena is determined not to get the disease like her mother did, and believes the cure is the only way to guarantee that. She shows this in the quote “That is all I want - all I have ever wanted. That is the promise of the cure”. The most important part of this story is when she meets a boy – Alex. He makes her start to wonder if her whole life has been a lie, and if the cure is actually the answer to everything. She starts to wonder what she really should value in her life. She starts to question the society, and begins to see through the lies her whole life has been. She shows this in the quote “I’d rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie.” Delirium is through Lena’s perspective, and begins on September 3rd. 95 days before her ‘procedure’ (when she is given the cure). The duration of the story is between those 95 days, and how her opinion slowly changes. Throughout the story Lena has flashbacks of her mother, when she was very young and her mother was still alive. One of the most important moments in this story is when Lena starts to question society’s view on love. I believe a quote that highlights the start of this change, is when she says: “It will kill me, it will kill me, it will kill me. And I don’t care.”
There are many important relationships in this story. First, is the friendship between Lena and Hana. Lena has always looked up to Hana, as Lena is shy and Hana is much more outgoing. Lena starts to take more risks nearing the end of the novel, and Hana starts to become proud of her. As Lena and Hannah have different views of the cure at the start of the novel, their relationship is tested as they have to try and accept each other for who they are and what they believe in.
The second relationship is between Lena and Alex. Alex is an ‘Invalid’, who is from the ‘Wilds’ (meaning beyond the fence of Portland). Lena had always feared Invalids, and is scared of Alex when she firsts meet him, before she realizes that maybe it shouldn’t be him she fears, but rather the people who made her think that. He shows her how controlled and censored her life is, and how much more there is beyond the bubble her whole life is kept in. As Lena starts to believe him, she also begins to fall in love with him. This is very dangerous in the society that they live in, as it can mean serious punishment such as torture, or being executed. Lena and Alex have to maintain their relationship as well as keeping it a secret, which tests them as individuals.
The issues Delirium makes you think about are possible futures and personal choices. The way Delirium makes you think about a possible future is it looks at the prospect of the Government deciding that love is a disease, and everyone must take the cure. This novel also looks at the effects of this from a teenage girls point of view, which makes it easy to relate to. Delirium also looks at personal choices as an issue. Lena Holloway is faced with an option - to follow society and live the life that she is expected to, or to choose her own path which she believes is right and will make her happy. Yet this will put her life and friends in danger.
I enjoyed reading this novel, as I found it captivated me from the first page. At first I thought it was a bit far-fetched, as the thought of people thinking love is a disease sounds very unlikely. However, once you start reading it, Lauren Oliver makes it sound very convincing. I would describe it as a science fiction novel for young adolescents, looking at the possibilities of the future. I think it was a very interesting novel, and well-written. This is because the author makes you feel like you are in the novel, facing the scenarios that Lena Holloway has to deal with. It makes you start to wonder; if love had a cure, would I take it? If not, how far would I go to get out of having the cure? The style of writing Lauren Oliver has is very descriptive and believable. She used amazing imagery, metaphors and similes. An example of this from the book is ‘Snapshots, moments, mere seconds: as fragile and beautiful and hopeless as a single butterfly, flapping on against a gathering wind.” I would highly recommend this novel, and am defiantly excited to read the sequel ‘Pandemonium.’
Delirium
By Lauren Oliver“I love you. Remember. They cannot take it.”
Imagine yourself one hundred years in the future. Love is no longer important, more than that, it doesn’t exist. People used to suffer, search, and even die for love. Now they have a cure.
Delirium looks at the possible future, about 100 years from now in Portland, Maine. All civilization is within those cities, and beyond the electrified fence that surrounds the city you are called an ‘Invalid’. Invalid means don’t exist in society, and are not registered as a person. The suburbs are clean, neat, and hardly anyone seems to step out of line. With the high chances of being caught and the penalties of you if do, hardly anyone would risk it. These are the suburbs in Portland that people inhabit. The ones that aren't are left to crumble, and there is a fear of going to them. Outside of Portland nothing exists. At least, that’s what the Government has told everyone. No one asks questions, as no one really wants to know the answers. Unlike many science fiction novels, technology is not a main part of this book, and rather the amount people rely on it is not nearly as much as in the present day.
The main character in this novel is a 17 year old girl named Lena Holloway. She lives in a time where love is feared, and what society believes is a disease “amor delira nervosa”. Lena is determined not to get the disease like her mother did, and believes the cure is the only way to guarantee that. She shows this in the quote “That is all I want - all I have ever wanted. That is the promise of the cure”. The most important part of this story is when she meets a boy – Alex. He makes her start to wonder if her whole life has been a lie, and if the cure is actually the answer to everything. She starts to wonder what she really should value in her life. She starts to question the society, and begins to see through the lies her whole life has been. She shows this in the quote “I’d rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie.”
Delirium is through Lena’s perspective, and begins on September 3rd. 95 days before her ‘procedure’ (when she is given the cure). The duration of the story is between those 95 days, and how her opinion slowly changes. Throughout the story Lena has flashbacks of her mother, when she was very young and her mother was still alive. One of the most important moments in this story is when Lena starts to question society’s view on love. I believe a quote that highlights the start of this change, is when she says: “It will kill me, it will kill me, it will kill me. And I don’t care.”
There are many important relationships in this story. First, is the friendship between Lena and Hana. Lena has always looked up to Hana, as Lena is shy and Hana is much more outgoing. Lena starts to take more risks nearing the end of the novel, and Hana starts to become proud of her. As Lena and Hannah have different views of the cure at the start of the novel, their relationship is tested as they have to try and accept each other for who they are and what they believe in.
The second relationship is between Lena and Alex. Alex is an ‘Invalid’, who is from the ‘Wilds’ (meaning beyond the fence of Portland). Lena had always feared Invalids, and is scared of Alex when she firsts meet him, before she realizes that maybe it shouldn’t be him she fears, but rather the people who made her think that. He shows her how controlled and censored her life is, and how much more there is beyond the bubble her whole life is kept in. As Lena starts to believe him, she also begins to fall in love with him. This is very dangerous in the society that they live in, as it can mean serious punishment such as torture, or being executed. Lena and Alex have to maintain their relationship as well as keeping it a secret, which tests them as individuals.
The issues Delirium makes you think about are possible futures and personal choices. The way Delirium makes you think about a possible future is it looks at the prospect of the Government deciding that love is a disease, and everyone must take the cure. This novel also looks at the effects of this from a teenage girls point of view, which makes it easy to relate to. Delirium also looks at personal choices as an issue. Lena Holloway is faced with an option - to follow society and live the life that she is expected to, or to choose her own path which she believes is right and will make her happy. Yet this will put her life and friends in danger.
I enjoyed reading this novel, as I found it captivated me from the first page. At first I thought it was a bit far-fetched, as the thought of people thinking love is a disease sounds very unlikely. However, once you start reading it, Lauren Oliver makes it sound very convincing. I would describe it as a science fiction novel for young adolescents, looking at the possibilities of the future. I think it was a very interesting novel, and well-written. This is because the author makes you feel like you are in the novel, facing the scenarios that Lena Holloway has to deal with. It makes you start to wonder; if love had a cure, would I take it? If not, how far would I go to get out of having the cure? The style of writing Lauren Oliver has is very descriptive and believable. She used amazing imagery, metaphors and similes. An example of this from the book is ‘Snapshots, moments, mere seconds: as fragile and beautiful and hopeless as a single butterfly, flapping on against a gathering wind.” I would highly recommend this novel, and am defiantly excited to read the sequel ‘Pandemonium.’